Thousand Island Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was established in 1875 as a Methodist Camp Ground on Wellesley Island along the St. Lawrence River. Within a couple of years, it was reported that over 500 family tents populated the grounds. Many of those original tents, erected on platforms, evolved into tent cottages that still exist today.
This tour of Thousand Island Park will include the Thousand Island Park Museum and several buildings including the circa 1913 Chapel (with its history as a gym and schoolhouse), the 1885 wooden Tabernacle, 1903 Library, still-operating Wellesley Hotel (an overflow for a larger hotel that burned in 1912), historic ferry landing, and walking tour of the “Historic District” with several tent cottages and other structures of historical significance. If weather and time permits, a guided walk to the top of the iconic Thousand Islands Bridge (1938) will be provided to those wishing. Email nysutrc9@gmail.com for more information and to register.